Robert Kingsbury. Berkshires Jazz Cat, to Mad Man and back again. Douglas Paisley. Berkshires artist opens up about the creative, the subconscious, the spiritual.PLUS: Music from Munk Duane and And the Kids

I love this episode. Not only do we have two fantastic guests AND massively powerful indie music mojo, but this is the episode where I figure out some critical truths about how to engineer the show so that we have time for everything we want to hear. Probably, this means that indie music is going to get its own show next week. For now, enjoy an hour and a half or so of exceptional Internet audio goodness. As always, a great time co-hosting with Tela Zasloff, editor of The Greylock Independent.

Williams Reunion Jazz Band photo courtesy Robert Kingsbury

Robert Kingsbury, local Jazz icon, describes a life come full circle

Listening to Robert Kingsbury discuss his life, one gets the feeling that he’s riding a familiar current in the Mississippi River of Life. His performance and direction of both The Williams Reunion Jazz Band and the Tavern Jazz Ensemble, has earned him a dedicated following that helps keep alive Berkshires Jazz. Eloquent about subjects as varied as New Orleans Jazz and New York advertising culture, Mr. Kingsbury’s musings suggest that if he ever lost the beat, he’s solidly in time with life now.

Image courtesy of the artist

Douglas Paisley with some potent distillations concerning art, the mind, and the connection between things that might have seemed unrelated until he drew a picture for us.
Listening to Douglas Paisley share his thoughts about creativity, expression, and the metamorphosis that is a natural by-process of perception is an extremely rare experience. I won’t dilute the experience by trying to describe WHY the conversation was so riveting. You just need to listen, and then go to the Whitney Center for the Arts in Pittsfield and experience his work for yourself. Oh, and that Sardinian throat-singing thing? It’s definitely a thing you should check out. Start with Tenores de Aterúe–Ottava Del Tre. (“Oppenheimer,” by Douglas Paisley, 2015. On left)

Munk Duane releases “Argue with Gravity” and “We Have No Argument with That”

Munk, the pioneer of podsafe music, achieves new levels of sophistication, but somehow manages to keep the emotional truths deliciously raw. With a “just-tapped” sense of honesty, “Argue with Gravity” presents listeners with a hard-won wisdom that is matched by an absolute mastery of the craft. Here on Will Call, we spin “String of Pearls.” Check out another track from this release, “Stupid Pride,” on the Greylock Glass’s news podcast, the Top Left Corner. Then, once you’ve gotten completely hooked on the sound, head on over to iTunes or Amazon.com (through our affiliate link) to pick up your copy of the CD or digital download.

Photo courtesy of the band

And the Kids delivers a superbly satisfying effort with the release of “Turn to Each Other”
Very few debut albums possess the combination of diverse textures and spot on stylistic choices as “Turn to Each Other” released in February by Northampton, Mass. band And the Kids. The long-term friendship and partnership between Hannah Mohan(c.) and Rebecca Lasaponaro(l.) help create an artistic maturity that hones, rather than dulls, the group’s raw, youthful power. This combination may help explain why the Wall Street Journal picked And the Kids as one of the EIGHT musical acts to watch in 2015. The addition of Megan Miller(r.) provides that third leg of one strong musical stool, and inspires some “humanistic” songwriting. On June 12 the group will be at Gateway City Arts in Holyoke, and on August 30 at the Amourasaurus festival in Look Park, Florence, MA.